Chapter 0706

“Troops!” Rafe barks out, clearly seeing what I’m seeing – what we all are. “Ready!”

“I -” I stutter, anxiety and adrenaline starting to race through me as my eyes focus properly on the two huge helicopters heading directly for us. “I thought we weren’t supposed to see action -”

“We weren’t,” Jackson snarls, falling into a fighting stance that’s clearly muscle memory in the face of a threat, like he’s ready to pounce into the air and take the helicopters down himself. “It doesn’t make sense to attack this part of the line…”

“Either way,” Luca says, soft and confident, “they’re coming.”

“Hold!” Rafe shouts, his voice still echoing powerful and strong as he moves to stand just before me, falling back into line so he’s not an obvious target. “Hold!”

He holds an arm out like he could physically hold the troops back. My breath starts to pant as I look frantically around at all the warrior-track Cadets, who all look so much calmer than me.